Milford Recycling Center Creates Human & Animal Wellfare Concerns

About a year ago a Corporation well known for their multiple violations and questionable shady work/business tried to get zoning approval to build a new dump and recycling facility at 990 Naugatuck AVE. Milford Ct. This proposed facility would be accessed from both ends of Naugatuck ave and also by water via the Housatonic river. They would be receiving upwards of 1,000 TONS! of trash and garbage PER DAY! from surrounding cities such as Bridgeport,Stratford,Orange,Derby, Shelton ect. and thanks to the support of the community we were able to shut down their attempts of turning our beautiful neighborhood into another dumping ground.

However they have come back and re-filed for approval under a "New" ownership claim even though they were told NO once before. Since that time the same trucks and dumpsters, with the same Company name, (to this day 5/16/2011) have been making their rounds at 1, 2,3, & 4AM.  We believe they are illegally dumping "who knows what" in the secrecy of the night.

Now as many of you know, or may not know, Naugatuck Ave. is a neighborhood road that runs from I-95 to Exit 36. It also goes all the way to the shores of Walnut beach of which is filled with families many of whom have small children and NO sidewalk. Now this alleged "NEW OWNER" wants to have Dump trucks filled with tons of trash come barreling down YOUR kids neighborhood to dump other peoples trash in "YOUR BACKYARDS!!!"

Other serious concerns will include LESS traffic safety in our neighborhood and excessive road wear including pot holes and pavement warping characteristic of heavy trucks. Its bad enough there are no sidewalks on Naugatuck ave and that the LAWS PROHIBITING tractor trailers and heavy trucking to use Naugatuck Ave. are broken daily, but now we have to worry about the safety of our children, pets and ourselves when walking down the street even more then before.

Property values will be negatively impacted. (Realtors warned us as to the difficulty of selling homes next to a dump)

Other well known hardships of living next to a dump, include disease carried by Mice, Rats, Raccoons, Possum and plenty of Seagulls who pick up and carry germ laden garbage around the surrounding residential areas and yards where children play.

For those who have had the experience of visiting the local dump (CRRE Transfer Station) have heard the noise and commotion from only the few tractors and compactors. Imagine Big Dump trucks coming down YOUR street all day hauling trash 100's of times our local volume. Also lets not forget the added odor induced hardship that already engulfs the EXISTING City Dump.

Recently our taxes have just started to repair Naugatuck Ave's pavement after years of neglect. By allowing more than 1,000 TONS of trash to be hauled up and down our local neighborhood streets local taxpayers will be unwillingly subsidizing the excessive road wear and repair on behalf of an objectionable Corporation. Overweight and heavy trucks rapidly deteriorate local roads at three times the normal pace of a regular community road. (Thats why they are currently being repaired again.)

ACCESS TO THE HOUSATONIC RIVER will be impeded and its recreational use will be restricted. This is because, in that area, there is only ONE access point to the Housatonic River for Milford CT. Years ago our city had Two access points, one was behind the Caswell Cove complex but that area is now blocked by Cement poles that Caswell Cove installed.  Their permit has stopped Milford Tax Payers from using common CITY PROPERTY IN THE WAY THEY WERE ONCE ACCUSTOMED.) The poles remain, under the objections of the local residents who are cut us off from their own river.

The only other remaining access point our city has left is the boat launch under the I95 bridge that has been closed for the last 2 years or more. This closing is due to continuous highway repairs. The bridge will "later reopen" once those "repairs" have been completed.

The caveat of a dump approval will render the final recreational access point to the Housatonic River "off limits." The ramp will no longer be usable because the site business plan and their admission calls for frequent barges delivering ecologically hazardous waste up and down our local river.  As a final point, I would also mention that fisherman have expressed objection due to the fact that large trash filled barges interfere with water crafts and habitats in the river.They have cited many well known studies on how plastic bottles, broken glass, and rusty metals present severe hazards to aquatic wildlife.

Document Edited by Rocco Frank and obtained from the 101 members at the Facebook Group "No Dump at 900 Naugatuck Ave Milford CT!!!"

Holiday Travel Warning To Milford Ct. Residents!

Many people this holiday season are planning to get on airplanes to visit their loved ones. In our area many kids reunite with their parents who live in Florida, are returning from college or just traveling for business. Regardless of what your need to travel this year is, it is dreadfully obvious that airport security has our citizens very upset.

While every American wants to have safer airlines, not every American wants to have their spouse and children sexually assaulted at the airport. This allegation has been repeated to me over and over by many people I know right here in Milford who have said they were sexually assaulted by the TSA while getting on an Airplane at a U.S. airport.

While on the surface these initial claims seemed outrageous, the reality of the graphic detail described to me by individual friends were confirmed by the national news media. Holiday travellers should be warned that the choices at the the airport are grim. When you decide to travel, you can either subject yourself to a potentially harmful dose of radiation, and provide a graphic naked picture to a stranger of yourself, or you can opt out and subject yourself and family to an "enhanced pat down." This "enhanced pat down" would be considered a sexual assault even by the standards of our local police department, who are not permitted to grab the genitals of a child, fondle a woman nor strip a cancer survivor of her prosthetic breasts. 

The problem is costing airlines and the airline industry millions in lost revenue, and is the most aggressive and sexually invasive in the world. The type of sexual assaults being permitted in the name of terrorism is frightening. Anyone who allows themselves to think that a TSA worker is allowed to put their hands down a child's pants, (or any ones pants) to search for a bomb is a dangerous individual.

This holiday season, I would like to let any travelers out there in Milford (or coming to Milford) know that once you start the security process you cannot opt out. If you opt out you will be detained indefinitely and possibly fined up to $11,000.00 for changing your mind.

By all means, take a car and drive to your destination this holiday season.

Milford Gets Updated Alert System

The City of Milford has implemented a state-of-the-art citywide notification system to alert citizens about emergencies and other community news. The Milford Alerts notification system, operated in partnership with Everbridge, enables the City to provide essential information quickly and for a variety of situations, such as severe weather, fires, floods, unexpected road closures, or evacuation of buildings or neighborhoods.

These notifications can be sent to a variety of devices such as home phone, work phone, cell phone, text messaging devices, e-mail and more. You choose what devices you are contacted on and in what order you would like to be contacted.

In addition to traditional emergency alerts, the system also allows you to sign up to receive a variety of other important community alerts and informational bulletins that interest you. For more information about the new Milford Alerts system, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions Page.

CONTINUE READING BY CLICKING HERE

Letter Exposes Kimball Report (KRIT) Not Implemented As Prescribed

"April 23, 2010

Dear [Board of Aldermen Members]

As elected current and former representatives of our communities, with more than 20 years between us serving the City of Milford as Planning and Zoning Board Commissioners, we know that what you do is important, difficult and at times, unfortunately, thankless. Please know, therefore, that our speaking out regarding the newly formed Department of Permitting and Land Use reflect genuine concerns regarding the re-alignment of the land use departments, and these concerns, expressed to your board before, reflect the views of many in our community.

As you know, this new department, formed by the Kimball Report Implementation Team, is a new item in the 2011 budget currently being reviewed by your board. This department was formed by the merging of three departments—Building, Inland Wetlands, and City Planning—into one department. The proposed budget reflects the cost of running those three departments and the salary of a new position, Director of the Department of Permitting and Land Use.

Comparing the budget request for this new department with the individual budgets for the once independent departments for FY 2010, shows that there is an 11% budget increase projected; this increase is comprised, in large part, of the salary for the Director. (Salaries for all three departments in FY 2010: $830,229 and the Mayor’s request is $934,385 for FY 2010). The total budget for these three departments: $892,752 FY 2010/$1,001,690 FY 2011. This increase does not include the cost of the Parsons remodel to accommodate the merging of the 3 departments which has been suggested to be $145,000. Part of the funding for this redesign and renovation is being funded through LOCIP Funds.

The increase – the largest for any City department – represents a stark departure from the intention of the Kimball Report which was initiated by the Board of Alderman and paid for from City Funds. In that report many recommendations were made to enhance the permitting process thereby ensuring better and more efficient customer service. Among the recommendations: Implementation of enhanced software; utilization of the City of Milford website; signage for Parsons Complex and a new staffing position, described in the report as a Permitting Authority or a concierge.

What the City has now is a position budgeted for a permanent Director of the Department of Permitting and Land Use who, according to the recently posted job description, has authority over three departments and professional staff, yet that position, paying $95,000 year, requires no land use experience, professional certification of any kind or post-high school education. During the almost 6 months that the interim Director has served the City, the operations of the three departments have remained pretty much the same; if anything the departments have less available resources than before this change was implemented in November of 2009. This was brought into stark clarity during your most recent budget hearing: the overtime costs for these departments remain as they were, and not only has overtime costs continued during the past 6 months, but staffing shortages are projected at the same level for all of 2011. As you know a key staff position (the Zoning Enforcement Officer) in the City Planning office remains unfilled, and a building inspector position in the building department has been removed from this year’s budget.

In short, the City is currently paying $95,000 for a position that has not alleviated staffing shortages as the Director of the Department of Permitting and Land Use testified to during the budget hearings.

What the City wanted with the hiring of an outside firm to review the permitting processes in the City was a plan for addressing the concerns of developers and residents who found working with the various departments difficult and confusing. But, the implementation of that plan has brought about little or no savings to the City and the key recommendations of the Kimball Report remain unfulfilled. But, more importantly, the cost for a Director overseeing professional staff has in fact made it impossible for these departments to be fully staffed and deprived these offices of some technical upgrades that were recommended and are necessary to expedite the permitting process.

As your board makes decisions on the budget, you are, as in good years and not-so-good years, left to make decisions about what is working and what is not as well setting the priorities of the City. Everyone has their own view; however, the cost to the City of a regular, full-time employee (including benefit package that will add at a minimum 10% additional cost for the position) overseeing the professional staff of three departments seems a very high price to pay when the City is cutting teachers or decreasing funding in other City departments or services. What makes the Director of Permitting and Land Use more important than preserving certain teaching positions?

In the case of the Director’s position, the City has had almost 6 months to review the progress of the changes envisioned by the implementation team, and the benefits to the City that that position has brought. We don’t believe that a fair and impartial look at what was envisioned by the Kimball Report and what has been delivered meets the vision of Kimball nor does it come close to satisfying the needs of the City.

The City needs to get the most value for their taxpayer’s money. We believe that if a position such as this is added to the City budget, this position should increase departmental efficiencies by providing customer service through a one-stop concierge service as envisioned in the Kimball Report. Further, as outlined in that report, providing customer service through development of internet tools that assist permit seekers with accurate information would go a long way to decreasing individual visits to various Land Use offices. Moreover, planned GIS upgrades—previously partially budgeted—should be implemented and inter-departmental information flow enhanced through electronic upgrades; all of which would allow professional staff to focus on their core jobs rather than attending to the myriad of questions and frustrations that arise everyday and could be handled by a mid-level employee. These affordable changes will help decrease overtime costs while providing builders and residents with quality and prompt information.

In addition to the known added costs of this implementation, there is also the unknown impact of pending grievances by union administrators. It would seem mandatory that this be dealt with before any position is funded.

We believe, that the City does not need to hire a permanent Director. However, if deemed necessary, that a job description be more in line with the goals set forth in Kimball—a mid-salary position where the duties emphasize the customer service aspect that is at the heart of the Kimball Report. Moreover, interdepartmental and extra-departmental communication needs to be enhanced through electronic upgrades that allow information to be shared across departments as well as providing basic land use information on the Milford City website.

An alternative scenario: “pause” further action and concentrate solely on the technology

up-grades; if necessary a tech consultant hired with oversight provided by a city administrator. At the end of the next fiscal year evaluate the need for any further change.

It doesn't make sense to us for the Board of Alderman to be looking at cutting overtime, consolidating copier costs and looking into cheaper ways to publicize announcements among the three departments without giving very serious consideration to the thousands and thousands of dollars the City is spending—and will continue to spend year after year—for a position that is not, in its present form, able to provide the full range of customer service objectives and departmental efficiencies that were the objectives of the City’s own funded report.

Please know that we understand the enormous responsibility you have and we hope you understand the value we place on your service to the City. We hope that with the understanding that we are all working together for a better Milford, that you consider our concerns and suggestions seriously."
With all respect,

Susan Shaw
Chairman, Planning and Zoning
203 874-0115

Jeanne Cervin
Past-Chairman, Planning and Zoning
203 878-1665

Jack Jansen
Past-Chairman, Planning and Zoning
203 215-4825

Are You Sitting Down?

You may want to be sitting down for this one. Out at Pilgrim City Furniture at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, they’ll celebrate Earth Day with the Chair Affair.

Fanciful recycled chairs created by Connecticut artisans such as Denise Morris Curt, Rosemary Celon-Gordon and Ren Farnsworth, will be auctioned to benefit the United Way and to help promote green living.

The evening will include hors d’oeuvres, music, a champagne and wine bar and tours of the store in a pedicab. Pilgrim City Furniture at 1755 Boston Post Road is the site of the largest solar photovoltaic installation on a commercial business in New England.

Tickets are $50 per person in advance at www.pilgrimfurniturecity.com/current/upcoming_events.aspx, or by calling 860-276-00330, ext. 106, and $60 at the door

Announcement Courtesy of NH Register

Milford Student Expresses Concern Over Cyberbullying

The note arrived to me by e-mail. It was sent by Janet Garagliano of Jonathan Law HS and I am reposting it to this blog to help raise cyberbullying awareness information available to parents in our community. Please read the following message and, if you have kids, get familiar with the facts and solutions to this growing technological crime problem.

Ms. Gargliano states in her e-mail: "Recently a student came to me to express her concern about Cyberbullying and the potential impact bullying of any type has on her schoolmates. This student, Jennie Sharp, wanted to do something about this problem. I guided her a bit; but most of what we will be doing at Law to recognize Cyberbullying month is the direct result of Jen's initiative.

All Health as well as Drug and Alcohol Prevention classes will engage in a variety of activities including a presentation by Detective Frawley. I have posted on our website, [http://teacherweb.com/CT/JonathanLawHighSchool/schoolhomepage/sdhp1.aspx]
some documents that you might find helpful to use with your child at home. These documents will serve as a complement to the materials that our teachers will be using. It may be the case that your child is not enrolled in either of the above mentioned classes, so they will have a chance to review the materials with you.

I hope you find these materials useful. I would like to thank Jennie for all her hard work as well as her concern for her schoolmates."

The concern over Cyberbullying came "front and center" last month when Phoebe Prince was bullied into a state that rendered her life so psychologically challenged that she decided to end it.

The work that is being done here is to pre-emptively address this issue before it becomes of concern, or creates victims within our own schools. Anyone with kids that are at risk for this kind of crime should take the time to get informed.

Board Of Education Moves To Fire Polanski

The Board of Education is moving on.

The board is expected Monday night to retain a Bridgeport law firm to represent it in potential termination hearings for suspended Superintendent Harvey Polansky. At the same time the board is expected to name itself as the search committee to find a new superintendent.

The 7 p.m. meeting in the Board of Education conference room in the Parsons Government Center will also include a report on the district's Breathalyzer and alcohol testing policy, and will involve setting the date and time for high school graduations in June.


CONTINUE READING JULIANO STORY CLICK HERE

Meet Milfords Most Menacing Object

Sadly, the utility pole in Milford is becoming the towns most menacing object. Just in the last week, a truck coming off exit 40 struck one destroying the rig, disrupting power to a major commercial area and putting the lives of fire fighters in jeopardy.

No sooner than that accident two more teens lost their life when their Honda struck a utility pole on Gulf Street, one year earlier Jill Copperwait lost her life to a pole on New Haven Ave. and three other teens lost their life when their car struck a utility pole at the mall. The cars involved, One Subaru, a Nissan, and a Honda all foreign medium sized cars.

The state legislature adopted new teen driving laws in July of 2008 in an effort to make the right of passage a safer one. The laws are described as the "MOST COMPREHENSIVE OVERHAUL IN 35 YEARS."

However, for some the relief this program was supposed to deliver fell short because their kids obtained their drivers licences prior to the benefits yielded by it. In all recent cases involving automotive fatalities the drivers obtained their Drivers Licences under the old rules.

Many residents are are awaiting the new data to come in for those kids who obtained their drivers licence under the new state mandates and motor vehicle regulations. We sincerely hope that tragic accidents like the one we experienced over the last several years are dramatically reduced.

As Milford anxiously awaits these "comprehensive overhauls" the towns kids, parents, relatives and loved ones will remain in mourning. All of us at the MDB offer our prayers and condolences to every family who endured these many painful losses.

Devon Power Station Nears Completion

The city has endured truck after truck of "wide load" vehicles up and down New Haven Ave. Local onlookers watched and wondered at what the massive oversize structures were, and what they were intended for.

Well after several months, we can now see the colossal structures rising into giant smoke stacks along the Housatonic river in Devon. The site is the one formerly known as the Devon Power Plant owned and operated by United Illuminating and NRG.

The new project is one run by the energy giant NRG, (pronounced "Energy.") The new plant is expected to function as a "peaking station" or in layman's terms, it will add power in the summer and winter when we all have the air conditioners, or heaters on in extreme weather.

The current power grid included the Middletown station. With it now in ruins the new gas powered power plant may evolve as more than just a "peaking station."

The new gas powered power plant is expected to go online as early as this summer, and the need for it appears to be increasing as the rebuilding of the Middletown plant drags on pending investigations and litigation.

The site is now clearly visible from Naugatuck Ave. Anyone curious in what the project currently looks like can park along side the road and see for them selves.

(Above photo is an artists rendering of the final project.)

Black Out On New Haven Avenue

This evening at about 6:00 P.M. New Haven Avenue went completely dark. The bitter cold weather, and a great many electric heaters, holiday lights, high winds and the peak period of normal electrical use, was too much for an electrical system.

Reports arrived that the nearby substation, malfunctioned and possibly caught on fire. Other reports indicate downed power lines that caught fire, Emergency responders arrived at the scene, along with utility workers, to begin the process of restoring the electric to several thousand people in the North end of Milford.

UI Operators said the power may be down for several hours until the work was complete. There was no immediate feed back on the official nature or cause of the blackout. Our source Mike Giordano a former firefighter, indicated that under such circumstances utility workers are not even permitted access to the the substation until all fires are out and the area is deemed safe. These periods of time can vary depending on the intensity, and severity of the problem.

Mike witnessed several fire trucks working at the scene when he passed by it by way of the I95 exit ramp in the North End of Milford. He was not permitted to get close or directly question anyone while the emergency work was ongoing.

The problem will be fixed in the late of night and business will should resume on schedule Wednesday morning. Fortunately this problem happened at the end of the work day limiting the amount of downtime suffered by local area businesses on New Haven Ave. Residents left without heat, should expect things back to normal in the next few hours.

(Photo of a blackout, not the one mentioned in article)

Peter Schiff Opens State HQ In Milford

Libertarian Republican Peter Schiff will be opening his campaign HQ in Milford, CT on Old Gate Lane right near the Independent Party HQ on New Haven Ave. Peter Schiff, has raised over $1.25 Million Dollars to run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Christopher Dodd.

The opening of the Schiff HQ is Thursday December 17th 130 Old Gate Lane Unit A in Milford, CT. Several members of the Milford Independent Party will be in attendance including myself (Rocco J. Frank Jr.) to support Mr. Schiffs bid for the Senate.

The Independent HQ annex will also be working with Schiff's state HQ to assist in getting him elected. There are several contenders for the Republican nomination this year including WWF heavy weight contender Linda McMahon. The Republican State Central also has their favorite candidate Rob Simmons. Independents have entered Dr. John Mertens as their official Party Candidate. Peter Schiff's strategy has been to adopt a policy of Republican infiltration, as he views this as being more desirable than running on a 3rd party platform not embraced by the voters.

This policy was conveyed to the Connecticut Libertarian party where Schiff on occassion spoke. In his previous lecture he advised all Libertarians in the state of Connecticut, that if they were serious about winning elections they would be better off to disband and join forces with a major party. Doing so would provide for the Libertarian philosophy to embed itself into the Republican Party paradigm without taking on a 3rd party handicap.

Peter Schiff was also endorsed by Libertarian Republican Ron Paul, who gave us the now famous H.R. 1207 with 318 Co-Sponsors. This is the bill to audit the Federal Reserve. Paul endorsed Schiff after learning that his understanding of macroeconomic policies, combined with his stellar track record for economic predictions, earned him a position of high honor on just about every financial news network in America.

We encourage all like minded freedom loving people to join us this Thursday to make the event a monumental success and welcome Peter Schiff to Milford. The Official Schiff For Senate website is www.schiffforsenate.com

Black Ice Makes Mornings More Dangerous

The morning drive is always fun, especially if you do not have a garage or live near an area where there is ice build up and lots of hills and curves.

An indicator of what kind of conditions you are in for should be a frozen car with dry streets. When your car is covered in frozen dew, and you are using an ice scraper to clean your car windows, this is usually an indication to look out for Black ice. Black ice is very deceptive, because it does not look like snow, is on the pavement and looks slightly darker than the asphalt we drive on. Usually you will not sense any danger until you hit the brakes and you car does not stop.

Just last night these were the conditions that led to a 50 car pile-up in Shelton, and this morning the roads by my house where being sanded and salted after several people complained to the association about some scary launches into the middle of a busy road at the entrance to Lexington Green.

The main thing to keep in mind about the Black Ice Condition is vigilance, when your windows are frozen there is a good indication that the street is also frozen as well. Be especially careful when approaching, hills, stop lights, and stop signs. Go slow and keep lots of room between you and the car infrot of you to avoid an accident. Also give your self plenty of time in the morning to get where you are going, or just accept it is better to be late than not show at all because your car was in a wreck.

Please use caution in the coming months to avoid any mishaps.

High Pressure Gas Main Break On Red Bush Lane

This Morning at about 9:00A.M. police fire and emergency rescue vehicles responded en-masse to a broken high pressure gas main on Red Bush Lane in Milford.

The main broke when local contractors were digging in the street in order to attempt a sewer connection to a home. The digging resulted in no reported injuries or fires.

As of about 10:00 A.M. this morning, when I arrived on scene, the air was acrid with the tell tale oder of natural gas. A police officer on scene indicated that there was no immediate danger as the natural gas is not a danger once it hits the air.

Onlookers from the neighborhood were out surveying the repair, and no indication of any evacuation was ongoing or planned.

The local police department, was to remain on scene until about 1:00P.M. today, the time they expect the work to be completed. In the meanwhile traffic detours have been set up redirecting cars by way of Maxwell Drive and Westwood Drive.

Photo above taken this morning from the yellow line, indicates SCG Workers and emergency personell working next to a fire truck. Firemen rolled out their hoses to respond to any potential ignition of the gas."